Workshop report - Public policy and transport

This workshop considered the wider public policy goals of a range of transport interventions. Particular attention was paid to assessing the role of integration of the different components of the transport system and of the integration of transport with other economic sectors. This assessment was informed by Ray Pawson’s realist evaluation approach, with its emphasis on the inter-relationships between context, process and outcome. The context was provided by case studies covering small urban areas, large urban areas and inter-urban corridors. The three key processes identified related to a regulated system with public ownership and control, a deregulated system with private sector ownership (‘competition in the market’) and a system in which there was public planning of the transport system but private provision (‘competition for the market’). Outcomes can be assessed using cost-benefit analysis tools to determine impacts on economic welfare or more qualitative approaches can be used to determine the extent to which accessibility or sustainability goals have been achieved. The evidence provided suggests that wider public policy goals are more important for urban than for inter-urban transport and it thus in urban areas where integration should be pursued with most vigour. The most relevant process for achieving this would seem to be variants of the competition for the market model. Some policy recommendations are made and implications for further research and for future conferences assessed.     

Microscopic simulation of pedestrians in accessibility evaluation

Evaluation of accessibility is of increasing importance to the design of the public realm – including both the built and moving environments and particularly the interface between them. This is of particular relevance to people who are living on the ‘margins of accessibility’, for example, elderly or disabled people. This paper discusses the interactions between a person, the environment and the activities they wish to pursue, and proposes a model that incorporates the concept of ‘capabilities’. The paper then describes how the systematization of these concepts could be tested by incorporating them in a microscopic simulation model of pedestrian activity. A worked example is used to demonstrate how the conceptual approach could yield consistent results under these circumstances. The paper concludes that the conceptual model provides a good basis for the evaluation of accessibility and that the microscopic simulation model incorporating these characteristics would be a useful way of testing pedestrian–environment interactions.     

Changes in Swiss accessibility since 1850

This paper discusses the changes in Swiss accessibility since 1850 after arguing that such spatially detailed measures are needed, if one wants to understand the impact of transport investment on the economy and land use patterns.The road-based accessibility overtook that offered by the railways around 1930 and has kept a steady relative lead since then. The relative advantage of the large cities has been eroded since 1950 through their population loss and the massive population gain of the metropolitan fringe. In absolute terms, though, they are still locations with the highest accessibilities.